This invention relates to new N-substituted thioxobenzothiazolines and to their use as leguminous plant growth regulants as well as to plant growth regulant compositions.
As the world population continues to grow, there is increasing need to produce food and to produce it more efficiently. Leguminous plants, especially soybean plants, play an important role in the world's total food supply. Soybeans, for example, are processed for meal and oil in all continents of the world except Antarctica. Currently, wordl soybean production accounts for the majority of the total world oil seed production. Soybean proteins are a major source of the protein in feed that is converted into animal proteins such as meat, milk and eggs. Increasingly, soybean protein is being used directly to replace traditional animal proteins. There can be no doubt that leguminous crop plants, especially soybeans are extremely valuable food sources. Using leguminous plant growth regulators to control the internal metabolism of the crop plant offers an important means of increasing crop yield to meet the world demand for food materials.